GW: What attracted you to Sword and
Sorcery? What made you want to write it yourself?

CDA: I developed a love for Science Fiction
at an early age, and among the books I remember enjoying most were Edgar
Rice Burroughsí A Princess of Mars, Poul Andersonís Three Hearts
and Three Lions, and Robert Heinleinís Glory Road. But full-out
Sword and Sorcery hooked me when, the night after I read my first Robert
E. Howard Conan story in one of those famous Lancer paperbacks with a glorious
Frazetta painting on the cover. I woke from a dream in which I was stalking
over bleak, fog-shrouded hills holding a sword aloft and yelling, "Crom!"
Talk about making an impression! But I didnít think of writing my own Sword
and Sorcery tales until I discovered Michael Moorcockís Elric stories,
in particular Stormbringer. The first novel I wrote was very Elric-esque.
I even drew a map for it with place names as unpronounceable as I could
make them and sent the manuscript and map to a publisher, who sent them
back with an encouraging note. That first novel was never published, but
I kept trying. Persistence, or pure never say die stubbornness, is one
of the most important qualities a writer, beginning or otherwise, can have.
Making that first professional sale is wonderful, but itís only the beginning.

GW: Your Sword and Sorcery trilogy about
the Viking warrior woman Bloodsong was first published under the name Asa
Drake. Why the pseudonym?

CDA: The Bloodsong books were not my first
published novels. That honor goes to two books I co-wrote for Avon Books
with an already published writer, Nina Romberg, who writes under both her
own name and as Jane Archer. The Avon editor wanted a pen name to represent
the two of us. Asa is a man's name in some cultures, a woman's in others,
and Asa is the name of the vampire-witch portrayed by the glorious Barbara
Steele in one of my favorite horror films, Mario Bava's Black Sunday,
also known as Mask of the Demon. As for Drake, it can mean Dragon,
the root word in Dracula. Those things were meaningful with regard to the
first Asa Drake novel, Crimson Kisses, because it is one of the
earliest fictional versions of how the historical Romanian national hero,
the warlord Vlad the Impaler, became Bram Stokerís Count Dracula. Avon
published it in 1981.

Russian edition of Warrior WitchArt by Ilia Voronin

GW: You wrote about Dracula again in
another book, didnít you?

A: Yes. I reworked and expanded Crimson
Kisses as I Am Dracula under my own name. Kensington published
it in 1993 and reprinted it in 1998. It remains one my most popular titles.
One loyal reader wrote he read the novel more than thirty times. Others
have also mentioned multiple readings. Thatís very heartening. Even a reader
from Draculaís Romanian homeland gave it a positive review at Amazon online.
I appreciated that welcome feedback!

GW: And the second novel you co-wrote
as Asa Drake?

CDA: The Lair of Ancient Dreams
is a historical Lovecraftian horror-fantasy about Lamashtu, a Sumerian
Goddess forced to become a Demoness when invading male deities usurped
her power in ancient times. A man and a woman on the run from the Inquisition
become her prey and discover they are reincarnated Sumerians who once worshipped
her as a Goddess. Either they find a way to restore her Goddesshood, or
the Demoness she has become will destroy them. Fantasy novels that employ
a Goddess theme are not uncommon today, but in 1982 when Avon published
The
Lair of Ancient Dreams, they were rare.

GW: When you later wrote the Bloodsong
trilogy on your own, you still used the Asa Drake name. Why?

CDA: The editor who bought the Bloodsong
trilogy advised me to use the fantasy genre pen name that had already been
published. Nina did not object, and I agreed.

Frontispiece from Russian editionsArt by Ilia Voronin

GW: The Bloodsong trilogy was originally
published in 1985 and 1986 by Warner Books. New editions were published
in 2000 by Hawk Books, but under different titles and under your own name.
How did that happen?

CDA: Hawk Books asked to republish the
trilogy for its fifteenth anniversary. For the new editions, I wanted to
use my own name. The publisher requested new titles. Warrior Witch of
Hel became Warrior Witch, Death Riders of Hel became
Warrior
Rebel, and Werebeasts of Hel became Warrior Beast.

GW: How do you like the new editions?

CDA: They are excellent editions in a trade
paperback format, larger than the mass-market originals. I enhanced the
text by adding special introductions about the writing of each book and
how my Swedish heritage and lifelong studies of Scandinavian lore influenced
them.

GW: Bloodsong is a warrior woman. Why
did you choose a female warrior as the main character?

CDA: Readers who first meet Bloodsong in
the new editions often think the books were inspired by the Xena: Warrior
Princess TV series. They donít realize I created Bloodsong ten years
before Xena, when Sword and Sorcery novels featuring a female hero as the
main character were few and far between. I wanted to create something new,
a warrior woman fundamentally different from traditional heroic fantasy
heroines like Red Sonja, Valeria, and Jirel of Jorey. Bloodsong does not
seek adventure, riches, or glory. By making a deal with the Norse Death
Goddess Hel, she has come back from the dead to save her daughterís life.
Helping Hel regain stolen powers in the process endangers all life on Earth,
and Bloodsong has to deal with the consequences of her actions as the trilogy
progresses. But her daughter, family, and friends always come first, and
no matter how overwhelming the odds, she never gives up. The war cry of
her followers is, "Bloodsong and Freedom!"

GW: Have you ever considered continuing
Bloodsongís story beyond the third book?

CDA: I am writing a new Bloodsong novel
now. And I wrote a short story about Bloodsong that takes place after the
end of the third book, "The War Skull of Hel." You can find it in the Michael
Moorcock-inspired anthology, Pawn of Chaos: Tales of the Eternal Champion.
It was only right that Bloodsong partner in that story with a character
created by Moorcock, the writer who inspired my own Sword and Sorcery and
Bloodsong.

Russian Edition of Warrior BeastArt by Ilia Voronin

GW: The Bloodsong trilogy also has Russian
editions. How did that happen?

CDA: I sent a set of the Hawk editions
to my Russian agent, and in 2002 Alpha-Kniga released the trilogy in Russian
language hardbacks. They used excellent artwork that accurately portrays
the way I describe Bloodsong in the books, complete with battle scars and
Odinic Runes around her throat. Ilia Voronin painted the three wrap-around
covers, and Konstantin Pravitskiy created each bookís endpaper and frontispiece
art.

Cover art by Boris

GW: Speaking of art, the covers for
both the Warner Books and Hawk Books editions are by Boris Vallejo. How
was it, working with Boris?

CDA: I was thrilled when Warner Books commissioned
him to create Bloodsong's covers. I was already a fan of his art. Hawk
bought reproduction rights from him for their editions. His Bloodsong paintings
are even more beautiful in Hawkís larger trade paperback format. He later
used the first painting in one of his calendars. He used the first and
second paintings in trading card sets, too. And all three are now available
as prints on his official website. There's a story about the third cover.
Boris called me one morning while he was working on the cover for Werebeasts
of Hel. It had been communicated to him that the publisher's art director
wanted a water buffalo on the cover. To his credit and my gratitude, Boris
had read the book and knew it was set in the frozen north during the dead
of winter with no water buffaloes in sight. It turned out that there had
been a serious miscommunication. The art director had requested that the
werebeast on the cover be "hulking like a water buffalo." But the "hulking
like a" part had gotten lost. I really appreciated Boris going above and
beyond to clear that up. No water buffaloes!

GW: How about other fantasy artists?
Favorites?

CDA: Beyond Boris and of course Frazetta,
Iíd list Julie Bell, Brom, Rojo, Rowena, Elmore, Whelan, lots of others.
I've worked as a professional artist myself, so on my website I make a
point of giving artists credit for my book covers.

GW: Most of your work other than the
Bloodsong Saga would be classified as Horror.

CDA: Yes. The first books under my own
name were horror novels. I worked with the editor of the Bloodsong trilogy
on them. It wasnít much of a leap from the strong horror elements in the
Bloodsong books and earlier Asa Drakes to contemporary horror. After the
two I wrote for Warner Books I wrote others for Kensington. And Iíve had
a number of horror short stories published in various anthologies.

GW: Do you write as much fantasy as
you would like? How does mainly being known now as a horror writer affect
your fantasy? Or does it?

CDA: It really doesnít affect it. I like
mixing genres, and whatever I write tends toward the dark side, but my
characters defy that darkness and, no matter how overwhelming the odds,
never stop fighting back. Thereís a little Bloodsong in all of them.

Russian Edition of Warrior RebelArt by Ilia Voronin

GW: The 1960-70s were the hey-day of
Sword and Sorcery. Can an author actually sell S&S, outside of the
Conan pastiches, any more?

CDA: I believe selling S&S is easier
than it was a few years ago. There are new avenues for publication, specialty
presses, e-pubs, self-pubs, print-on-demand houses, and so on, not to mention
the gaming publishers that release good S&S stories set in their shared
world realms. But even with the traditional NYC publishers, in spite of
all the mergers shrinking the number of houses and the reduction in mid-list
titles, I believe there is a better chance of selling a Sword and Sorcery
novel because Fantasy has become a bigger market after Peter Jackson's
Lord
of the Rings and J. K. Rowlingsí Harry Potter had such success, bringing
new Fantasy readers to the market. The same kind of boost in publishing
occurred in Science Fiction after Star Wars hit big in 1977. You
can also see the increased acceptance of Fantasy in the Romance market
these days. Romance writers now incorporate Fantasy and Paranormal elements
into novels featuring action-oriented heroines who are spies, cops, Buffy-esque
vampire hunters, anything you can imagine. The Paranormal Romance sub genre
is a hot market. I applaud and enjoy the books that are being written for
that sub genre. We might even see Sword and Sorcery in a Romance line one
of these days. Keep your eyes open.

GW: Who inspires you in Fantasy today?
Favorite S&S authors?

CDA: The same Fantasy writers who used
to inspire me still do. Always Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, but
also Fritz Leiber, Lin Carter, C. L. Moore, Andre Norton, L. Sprague de
Camp, Leigh Brackett, Gardner Fox, Fletcher Pratt, Edgar Rice Burroughs,
and many more. In Norse Fantasy, though, you simply canít do better than
late Poul Andersonís work, Mother of Kings, The Broken Sword,
Hrolf
Krakiís Saga, and his masterpiece, in my opinion, War of the Gods.
Diana Paxsonís Wodenís Children series, based on the Germanic national
epic Ring of the Nebelungenlied or its Scandinavian counterpart,
The
Volsunga Saga, is excellent, as is Stephan Grundyís novels on the same
subject. I enjoy Richard Lee Byers heroic fantasy work a great deal. Thereís
also Leonard Carpenter, his take on Conan is a favorite, and Chris Claremont,
Elizabeth Moon, Sharon Greene, C. J. Cherryh, Mercedes Lackey, and lots
of others. What great time this is, to have so many fine writers working
in the field. But a special mention goes to the late Robert Adams and his
Horseclan series. He befriended me and many other writers at the start
of their careers. At SF conventions his rooms were a welcome meeting place
for mutual friends where you could relax, enjoy good conversation, and
listen to Bob tell stories. He knew anyone you could name, it seemed, and
had a story about each. Better yet, reading his books is like hearing him
spin a yarn in person, the mark of a true storyteller. If thereís a writerís
Valhalla, Iíll bet Bob Adams is sitting at the head table right now, his
voice booming out, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, telling stories!

GW: What are your most recent books
or stories?

CDA: I have three short stories, "Odinís
Swallow," "Daddyís Dinner," and "Hang Tuff" in the Small Bites charity
anthology whose proceeds benefit the veteran horror writer Charles Grantís
medical fund. "The Tomb of Fog and Flowers," a story about Dr. Van Helsing
from Bram Stokerís Dracula, is in The Many Faces of Van Helsing,
an anthology on the final ballot for the Horror Writer Associationís Bram
Stoker Award. And my "Dust Bowl" is one of the zombie stories from The
Book of All Flesh under option for a movie. Iím looking forward to
seeing it on the screen. Itís about two good old Texas zombie hunters forced
into a flesh-eating zombie football game. Heads do roll, along with other
things.

GW:. What's next for C. Dean Andersson?

CDA: More Bloodsong novels, more Horror
novel, lots of short stories, and whatever else comes along that I feel
deserves a story.

GW: Where can readers buy the Bloodsong
trilogy and your other novels?

CDA: The usual places online, of course.
Or, if they want to buy new copies signed, they can use the contact email
address at www.cdeanandersson.com to inquire about availability and prices.

GW: Thanks for answer all my questions.

CDA: Thanks for asking. Youíve got a fantastic
website devoted to what is obviously one of my favorite genres. Iím honored
to have Bloodsong, and myself, be a part of it. Long live Sword and Sorcery
and those who love it! Bloodsong and Freedom!